


The Mountain, His Star, and His Moon

by Auroras5tar



Series: Sanhwa Week 2020 [1]
Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Adoption, Aged-Up Character(s), Couch Cuddles, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Fluff, Hugs, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Nightmares, Orphanage, Orphans, Past Child Abuse, Selective Muteness, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:48:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25071178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Auroras5tar/pseuds/Auroras5tar
Summary: Standing in front of the children's home, Seonghwa took a deep breath. He felt a hand slip into his, and he looked over at the man standing next to him, normally sharp features were softened thanks to the blonde locks that fell in gentle waves over his forehead. Seonghwa felt his hand get squeezed, and he floated down from his thoughts. San chuckled and shook his head at Seonghwa and repeated his question once more so that the other could respond.“You ready, Hwa? You seemed to be deep in thoughts there.”“Of course, Sannie. I just can’t believe we’re about to do this.”OrSanhwa decide to adopt their first kid
Relationships: Choi San/Park Seonghwa
Series: Sanhwa Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1815721
Comments: 31
Kudos: 80
Collections: Sanhwa Week 2020





	The Mountain, His Star, and His Moon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [strawberrymarss](https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberrymarss/gifts).



> Sanhwa Week is finally here! I'm so excited! I had many ideas, but so far I could only write out 2 because motivation is a thing that decided to dip away from me for a week or two. But I'm working on a 3rd work. It may be posted a bit late.
> 
> This fic was inspired by a twitter conversation between me and 2 other Ao3 writers: strawberrymarss, and hwaslintroller. There's probably gonna be more works from this universe, so if you enjoy this one, there's something to look forward to.

Standing in front of the children's home, Seonghwa took a deep breath. After much deliberation and convincing, he had finally persuaded his longterm boyfriend of 6 years to adopt a child. The couple were both in steady jobs and had enough income as well as funds in savings to support another mouth to feed. He felt a hand slip into his, and he looked over at the man standing next to him, normally sharp features were softened thanks to the blonde locks that fell in gentle waves over his forehead. The shock of blonde hair often raised questions when it was found next to Seonghwa’s own black hair, but their friends often called them their own version of Yin and Yang since wherever the blonde went, unrestrained chaos seemed to follow while Seonghwa brought grounding serenity that thoroughly balanced out the blonde’s antics.

Seonghwa felt his hand get squeezed, and he floated down from his thoughts. Quickly realizing he had been caught staring at his boyfriend, San, in thought, a dusting of pink seemed to blow across Seonghwa’s face for a moment. San just chuckled and shook his head at Seonghwa and repeated his question once more so that the other could respond.

“You ready, Hwa? You seemed to be deep in thoughts there.”

“Of course, Sannie. I just can’t believe we’re about to do this.”

“Believe it, baby. You’re gonna make a great dad for whoever we adopt.”

“You will, too, love. Now come on.”

The couple finally entered before finding the front office to finalize things with the head of the home. After a while of talking, the couple was taken to meet the children that fit their wanted age range, who were all gathered in a large conference type room that also held some toys. It must have been a conference room that was converted to a playroom for those from ages 5-9. The head of the home retreated to a corner of the room so that Seonghwa and San could socialize to see which child fit them the most.

San was instantly chatting with what seemed like all of the children, getting dragged to play and learn more of the children. Seonghwa glanced around and noticed a smaller boy curled up alone in the corner. His eyes instantly filled with concern as he looked at the boy. The ravenette had just taken a step in the boy’s direction when the head of the home seemed to materialize next to him.

“Are you sure you want to go to that child? He doesn’t talk. We’re not sure if he can even speak. He’s never spoken a single word to us, and he’s adverse to touch.”

“I’m sure. Thanks for the information.”

Seonghwa carefully made his way in front of the boy and sat down in front of him, out of reach of the boy as well as out of his own reach. He made no motion to touch the boy, but instead he waited for the boy to notice him. It took a few minutes, but eventually, the boy noticed him and glanced up from underneath his bangs. The boy jumped and shrunk away a bit more, so Seonghwa moved back a little bit, watching the boy as he relaxed with the increased distance.

“Hi. My name is Seonghwa. What’s your name?”

The boy was silent as was expected, but he seemed surprised by the calming, soft sound and volume of Seonghwa’s voice. Seonghwa watched as the boy seemed to think hard and long before reaching next to him and pulling out something. A few more moments, and Seonghwa was faced with a white board with a drawn picture of a night sky. The boy then pointed to the circle in the night sky and then pointed at himself, causing Seonghwa to think.

“Moon? Or Dal?”

He watched as the boy seemed hesitant to answer, not knowing how since he was given two questions. Seonghwa hummed before he came up with a solution.

“How about you can either tap once or twice for whichever you mean ok?”

The boy tapped twice, and Seonghwa smiled widely. 

“Dal is a really nice name, but I might have an unfair opinion since I also have a night sky based name. My name means ‘to be star.’”

He looked questioningly at the whiteboard as he reached towards it. Dal glanced between him and the whiteboard before he held it closer to Seonghwa just for him to tap near a drawn star as he spoke. Seonghwa withdrew his hand and let Dal place the whiteboard in between his knees and chest.

“How old are you, Dal?”

Seonghwa watched Dal have another internal debate before the boy held up 6 fingers, and Seonghwa faked shock as he spoke again.

“Wow! Amazing. 6 years old? That means you’re a big boy, doesn’t it?”

It seemed like the boy liked that statement because Seonghwa could see a ghost of a smile before Dal hid his face, making Seonghwa smile. 

“What do you like to do?”

Dal sat up a little bit straighter and wiped at his board with a wipe he had before leaning over to draw. Seonghwa watched quietly, leaning back on his hands as he stretched his legs out carefully and slowly. He had been trying to keep them crossed for as long as possible, but it was impossible now as he massaged them lightly to try to get the burn out of them. Dal paused to look at him in confusion.

“Ah. I can’t sit with my legs crossed like that for a long time, but I tried this time so as to not scare you.”

Dal blinked in surprise before returning to his drawing. A few moments later, he sat up and stretched his own legs out before hesitantly patting the wall and glancing at Seonghwa. The older man debated in his head before he cautiously moved to rest his back against the wall but still out of reach of the boy as he glanced towards Dal to see that the boy was holding his board out. Dal had illustrated what he liked to do, and Seonghwa studied them.

“So you like to draw, play games, and read?”

Dal nodded, and Seonghwa hummed in thought.

“Have you ever played tic-tac-toe?”

Seonghwa watched Dal blink at him with a blank look of confusion. He internally grimaced but silently held his hand out for the board and marker, and Dal carefully handed over the materials, making sure they didn’t touch. Seonghwa wiped off the board with the wipe the boy handed over and drew the set up for the game.

“Ok. So the point of the game is to get three across. Most people use circles and x’s, but you can choose any symbol, and we go in turns. Like you go first, and then I go. You got it?”

Dal blinked but nodded anyway as he peered at the four lines curiously. Seonghwa held out the board and marker to let Dal go first, which he did. The boy looked at Seonghwa in confusion before looking back at the board and drawing a hesitant circle in the middle. Seonghwa nodded minutely and silently asked for the marker back. Dal complied, and Seonghwa drew a star on the bottom left space.

The two silently passed the marker between them as they played the game, Dal letting a small smile show as he won the game. Seonghwa grinned, his pained looking smile showing up, and Dal looked slightly concerned as he pointed at the elder’s smile then pretended to hurt himself. Seonghwa laughed gently and shook his head.

“I’m not hurt, Dal. That’s just my smile. I’m happy.”

Dal looked better and nodded before erasing their symbols and starting the game over. The two fell into silence as the boy steadily got closer to Seonghwa as they played, finding the closeness easier to play together. They had the board half on Seonghwa’s lap and half on Dal’s as they passed the marker between the two, and they were nearly shoulder to shoulder, but there was still space between them.

During their interaction, they didn’t notice the eyes watching them. The head of the home was staring in wonder as Seonghwa got Dal to play with him and smile while San watched with nothing but fondness in his gaze. Seonghwa was cute with the boy, and he couldn’t help but imagine Dal in their apartment with them. Especially since Seonghwa was smiling so much with him.

“That’s… Amazing. It took us a while to get Dal to do that with us, and your boyfriend did that like it was second nature.”

“Yeah. He’s amazing like that.”

San smiled before approaching the two of them carefully and sitting on Seonghwa’s other side, instantly curling into the ravenette’s side. Seonghwa moved his hand from securing the whiteboard and instantly wrapped his arm around San’s shoulders, placing a soft kiss on his temple as he kept his eyes on the white board. Dal glanced at San warily and tensed up, but when he saw the blonde intertwine his fingers with Seonghwa’s before kissing the back of his hand, he relaxed. 

Occasionally, San chimed in quietly with what Seonghwa or Dal should do in the game. Most of the time, he helped Dal out because he knew how Seonghwa was and what his plans were. This caused Seonghwa to playfully glare at San and lightly flick San’s forehead with a chuckle as San squeaked cutely in indignation. Dal watched with curiosity at their display as they silently stared at each other before Seonghwa tilted San's head to gently kiss where he had flicked and then San kissed Seonghwa's cheek in response. 

The couple turned back to the board, and Seonghwa looked at Dal to see if he wanted to play another game but what he saw in answer wasn’t what he was expecting. He noticed Dal was looking at him a bit strange. It looked like awe and curiosity mixed with disbelief and caution, and it honestly looked odd yet cute on such a young boy in Seonghwa’s opinion. He tapped on the board gently to snap Dal out of his stupor, and they continued playing for a while.

After many more games, the couple had their answer on who they would adopt as they were led back to the first room, but they chatted quietly as they were led. They held onto each other’s pinkies as they walked before they sat down back in the office, waiting on the head of the home to get settled. Seonghwa felt himself get nervous, and his leg started to bounce as the silence grew longer.

“Do you two have an idea on who to adopt? Or would you like to hear my recommendation?”

Seonghwa and San shared one last look before Seonghwa spoke up first.

“We know who we would like to adopt, actually. We’d like to adopt Dal.”

“That’s a good choice. He surprisingly bonded with you quite quicking, Seonghwa-ssi, and you have admittedly done a couple things that our staff hasn’t achieved yet… But I must advise you on Dal’s background.”

The couple sat up straighter, and Seonghwa bit his lip as his leg started to shake a bit more. Before his leg could shake for too long, he felt a hand on his knee to still the movement, and he took a deep breath before calming down.

“Ok. Anything we need to make sure to avoid?”

“Yes. First off, let me start by saying… We honestly thought Dal would be stuck in the home all his life because of how he is. Now, let’s get started on the background details. Dal was verbally and physically abused, so he is quite adverse with yelling or quick movements. He has not ever talked around anyone, but he can read and write a little more than kids his age normally can. That means that we don’t know much about what he likes until we give him things to try but please strive to avoid toys with loud noises. Now, he is also prone to nightmares, but as you have learned, he does not enjoy physical touch, keeping distance between him and everyone else. He also is prone to anxiety and panic attacks. Though, we haven’t figured out how to calm him quickly without touching him, but I am positive you’ll be able to figure out something. Allergy-wise, there are no abnormalities that we know of... Are you still sure about your decision after hearing about what you are going to be responsible for by adopting him?”

Without even looking at each other, Seonghwa nodded not even a moment after the question, determination evident in his expression.

“I could tell Dal had trauma the moment I laid eyes on him. Did that stop me from going to him? You even tried to get me not to go to him with a warning. I’m sure about adopting him. We took more than enough time to see how he reacted to how we act, individually and together, and he was receptive.”

“Hwa, calm down. It’s just a required question. You don’t need to psychoanalyze anything with your psych minor. The home just is looking out for Dal. Ok?”

Seonghwa sighed and nodded as San squeezed his knee lightly.

“Like I said before, Seonghwa-ssi. Dal seemed to bond with you two for whatever reason. I’d rather have him be adopted by someone like you who already seems protective of him.”

Seonghwa nodded as the head of the home, called an assistant in to get Dal packed by the time the couple was done with the paperwork. They went over all the finalizations, and by the time they walked out the front office with happy smiles, Dal was sitting on a bench outside the room with a couple of bags next to him. Walking over to Dal cautiously, Seonghwa squatted down a ways away so that they wouldn’t touch to look up at Dal.

“Dal, Sannie and I want to take you home. Is that ok with you? Would you like that? Like earlier, tap once for no and twice for yes, and you can pause in between your answers.”

Seonghwa bit his lip and waited for Dal’s answer. He couldn’t help but smile widely as he heard the double tap twice, and he gripped his jeans in excitement, not able to wrap Dal into a hug. San, however, gripped his shoulders tightly in his happiness, and Seonghwa stood up just to get wrapped into a hug as San’s body weight slammed into him. He let out a choked, surprised noise as he stumbled forward slightly and reached up to pat San’s arms until the younger let go of him, smiles never leaving their faces.

San moved beside Seonghwa and kissed his cheek before grabbing Dal’s bags as Seonghwa smiled at Dal, gesturing for Dal to come with them. The couple waved at the staff as they left, and Seonghwa opened the car door once they arrived, stepping aside to let Dal climb into the car seat himself while San put Dal’s bags in the back of the car. Seonghwa leaned into the car a little bit, staring at Dal in concern as he spoke.

“Dal, I’m going to have to almost touch you to help you buckle in, ok? I want you to be safe, and I don’t know if you know how to buckle the seatbelt. I won’t do anything until you tell me it’s ok with two taps.”

There was a bit of a pause before Dal tapped twice, hesitancy on his face, but Seonghwa smiled calmingly as he buckled the boy in. He made sure not to touch the boy as he secured the seatbelt and then instantly stepped away so as to not make Dal nervous. Closing the back door, Seonghwa opened the passenger door and got in, buckling up. They were going home.

~*~*~*

A few months later saw many panic attacks, nightmares, and breakdowns, but the new family worked through them, even sacrificing hanging out with their friends as a whole group. Dal still didn’t talk, but he didn’t flinch when San or Seonghwa moved near him. Seonghwa had taken time off from his job under Wooyoung and Yunho at the dance studio, but he would clear a space in the living room to record his choreography ideas that he would send to Wooyoung or Yunho to see what they would want to keep and what they wanted to change. San, however, was still going to work and coming back on a regular schedule.

It was on one late night that something changed. Seonghwa jolted awake at the sound of a scream, being a light sleeper anyway. He turned to look at San, who was still asleep, which caused Seonghwa to shake his head at the heavy sleeper before climbing out of bed reluctantly and stumbling into Dal’s room. Dal was sitting up, breaths coming quickly and heavily as tears fell down his face. Seonghwa rushed over, turning on the side lamp. and knelt by the bed so as to not scare the young boy.

“Dal, starshine. You’re safe. I’m here. It was just a dream”

He kept repeating the same words quietly and without any sign of panic as he kept watching Dal slowly calm down. Seonghwa shifted to grab the tissue box and place it next to Dal for when he felt like he needed to clean up. The boy sniffled pitifully and finally reached for the box, plucking out a tissue to blow his nose and wipe his face as Seonghwa grabbed the trash can and held it up for Dal to throw away his used tissue. All the while, Seonghwa had moved to humming as he placed his cheek on the edge of Dal’s bed since he was still tired.

“Are you good now, star?”

Dal nodded, and Seonghwa himself nodded before standing to move to grab the chair he normally slept in when Dal had nightmares so that the boy didn’t feel alone. Only, he didn’t get farther than turning as he felt small hands grab his wrist, causing his eyes to widen. 

“Appa, stay.”

Seonghwa raised his hand to his mouth as he heard Dal speak for the first time as well as touch him. The voice and touch were both soft but still very much prominent. He turned slowly and moved to sit on the edge of the bed, sniffing as he tried not to cry at being called appa for the first time ever. Dal moved over on the bed and tugged on Seonghwa’s wrist more.

“Stay, Appa. Don’t cry.”

"Ok, my star. I'll stay here and won't cry. I'm just touched."

Seonghwa dimly noted that Dal’s voice was quite smooth and his pronunciation clear as if he had been practicing speaking when he was alone. The next realization Seonghwa had was that Dal was asking for him to stay and possibly even sleep next to him for the whole night. He nodded at Dal and slowly laid down, Dal’s hands loosening as he laid down. Dal laid back down himself and tugged on his blankets as if to push them down, and Seonghwa hesitantly moved so that he could push the blankets down before slowly pulling them up over him as he watched Dal to make sure this was what the boy wanted.

When there were no protests, Seonghwa got comfortable before Dal pointed at the light. The older of them looked over before he moved to turn off the lamp, returning back to his spot quickly. They laid there before Dal moved closer and curled up against Seonghwa’s side, the ravenette instantly moving to wrap his arm around the younger and have Dal’s head on his shoulder. The two slowly relaxed, and Seonghwa started sleepily humming for Dal to fall asleep. He listened to Dal’s breaths even out before he eventually fell asleep himself.

Seonghwa woke up some time later to a camera shutter sound, and his eyes fluttered open to see San standing in the doorway, looking near to tears with a fond look at him and Dal. Seonghwa smiled sleepily at San before letting his eyes shut again, nuzzling against Dal’s hair slightly as he heard San take a couple of more pictures. Then he fell back asleep as San walked off, presumably to get ready for work. He got pulled back to the waking world when he felt a kiss on his temple, and he hummed in farewell as San whispered that he was leaving against his temple and that he loved Seonghwa before Seonghwa fell back asleep.

When Seonghwa next woke up, it was to Dal stirring next to him. Seonghwa yawned and stretched, moving to go back to sleep when he felt a poke to his cheek. He hummed at the disruption but tried to sleep again until he felt the poke again. Eyes sliding open once more, he glanced at Dal, who was sleepily looking at him.

“Appa, I’m hungry.”

Seonghwa hummed in acknowledgement and hugged Dal tighter, turning onto his side.

“5 more minutes, star. I’m tired.”

Dal giggled but let Seonghwa sleep for exactly 5 minutes before poking his sides, making the elder jolt in surprise with a surprised shout.

“Been 5 minutes, Appa. Food now.”

Seonghwa chuckled and sat up, running a hand through his hair before climbing out of bed. He made his way to the kitchen and looked through what they had before settling on giving Dal cereal since he was 3/4 asleep and dealing with heat like that wasn’t the smartest idea. He grabbed Dal’s favorite bowl and poured the appropriate amount of milk and cereal in it before dropping a spoon into the bowl and placing it in front of the young boy. Then, he returned to grab Dal’s cup and fill it with milk as well as grab his own glass and do the same. He wasn’t that hungry, but he also fixed himself some cereal and sat with Dal, placing their drinks on the table before putting his bowl down.

“Thanks, Appa.”

Smiling at Dal in answer, Seonghwa ate a spoonful of cereal. Even though Dal was comfortable with talking with Seonghwa now, it wasn’t needed as they were used to picking up on body clues now. They finished eating, and Seonghwa picked up the dishes before making sure Dal washed his face and teeth as well as brush his hair. Then, they picked out an outfit before Seonghwa let him get changed, and Seonghwa went to change, wash his face and teeth, and brush his hair since he had a video call with Wooyoung and Yunho later.

He walked out of his room to see Dal walking into the living room with his books. Seonghwa grimaced and followed the boy out to set out his laptop and get ready for his call with Wooyoung. Dal glanced up and frowned as he realized what Seonghwa was doing, and he pointed to his room questioningly as Seonghwa finished setting up.

“Yeah. You’ll have to go to your room soon, but do you want to stretch with me before the call starts?”

Dal nodded and moved to the open space Seonghwa had created before the two stretched out together. Seonghwa smiled over at the young boy warmly, heart bubbling over with love and adoration of the younger. Distracted as he was, he wasn’t alert enough for the ringtone of the call to blast through the room, and he nearly face planted from the split he was in, and Dal giggled.

Shaking his head with a smile, he got up from his split and tapped on Dal’s books as he answered the call. He was instantly greeted with loud voices, and he winced because of the volume. Seonghwa was about to respond when Dal walked up behind him, and he turned his head to look at the boy. Just to have a small kiss placed on his cheek, and he blushed lightly as Dal rushed off before he remembered to call out to the boy.

“Hey! Don’t forget that if you need anything, you can come ask. Ok, star?”

He watched Dal nod before he looked at Wooyoung and Yunho. Neither of them seemed to have noticed the exchange between him and Dal, too caught up in their own bickering. Seonghwa rolled his eyes and brought their attention back to him so that they could start choreographing, quickly getting to work.

After a few hours, Seonghwa was sitting on the couch with his laptop on the coffee table on top of a couple of books to be eye level and discussing what needed to be done in the upcoming weeks. The discussion was only paused when a quiet voice sounded from the hall doorway, causing Seonghwa to look up.

“Appa?”

Seonghwa smiled invitingly and let Dal walk up to him before the boy climbed onto his lap to speak into the elder’s ear. It seemed the boy knew that Seonghwa was still on call but didn’t care too much. Seonghwa turned his gaze from Yunho and Wooyoung’s surprised faces to look at Dal as he wrapped his arms around the boy loosely.

“Yes, star?”

“Hungry again.”

Glancing at the time, Seonghwa hummed in concession and shifted to pick up Dal as he stood. He walked to the kitchen and put the boy down on a dining room chair before heating up some leftovers. He placed the plate and chopsticks in front of Dal before fixing him a glass of soda since the boy had been good. 

“You can join me if you want now. Did you finish your work?”

Seonghwa had taken the time to also homeschool Dal and was teaching the boy while he was at home. When Dal nodded, Seonghwa hummed and also nodded as he headed back towards the living room.

“I’ll check it as soon as I’m done talking with Uncle Wooyoung and Uncle Yunho, ok?”

Dal let out a hum, and Seonghwa returned to the living room, sitting on the couch once more. He was expecting it when Wooyoung and Yunho caused chaos about the development in Seonghwa and Dal’s relationship. Chuckling with a shake of his head, Seonghwa just let them bombard him silently until he was alerted to Dal padding up to him.

The boy climbed back into Seonghwa’s lap and manually wrapped the elder’s arms around him before burrowing his face into Seonghwa’s chest. Seonghwa smiled softly and placed a kiss on the crown of Dal’s head before tightening his grip to be more reassuring, even running a hand through the boy’s hair as Wooyoung and Yunho watched in stunned silence. Dal gripped Seonghwa’s shirt loosely and made himself small in the ravenette’s hold almost as if to make himself easier to protect. Raising an eyebrow at the two on the screen, Seonghwa finally brought them out of their silence.

“Are we done with discussions or what?”

Conversation continued, but with the addition of Dal, Wooyoung and Yunho talked in an uncharacteristically calm way. Soon, the business conversation was dying down, and Seonghwa glanced down to see Dal half-asleep. It was at that time that Seonghwa decided to call it quits with Wooyoung and Yunho. He didn’t even offer a proper farewell and just hung up before putting on How To Train Your Dragon and cautiously cutting the stack of books down so that the laptop was still in a comfortable viewing position for when he laid down. 

Seonghwa was hoping his movement wouldn’t wake Dal up, and he was happy to see Dal in the same state he previously was in. He gently shifted to lay down, placing a pillow behind his head as he turned his head to watch the movie. Dal was watching the movie with steadily closing eyes but adorning a small smile until he fell asleep. Seonghwa chuckled and kept his arms around the boy until he fell asleep himself.

When San got home from work, he instantly noticed the lack of noise in the house, so after he toed off his shoes, he wandered into the living room to see his boyfriend asleep with Dal on his chest. He quickly took a couple of more pictures before he walked over and gently shut Seonghwa’s laptop before bringing it to plug in. The blonde could tell that Seonghwa had gone from his dance call to sleeping due to the clothes his boyfriend was in, which normally annoyed Seonghwa to no end, but the ravenette seemed happy.

San hummed quietly before he walked into the kitchen to see some dishes in the sink, quickly deducing that they were Dal’s since he was just tall enough to be able to put the dishes in the sink but not wash them without help. He washed the dishes quietly before he set out to make dinner for the three of them. It was his way of telling Dal that even though he was gone more than Seonghwa, he still loved the boy, and it seemed to work most of the time.

“Papa?”

A sleepy voice sounded from the doorway, making San jump and nearly burn his hand on the pan he was using. He whirled around with eyes wide in disbelief as he looked at Dal sleepily rubbing his eyes, and he swallowed thickly. San knew that he and Dal weren’t as close as Dal was to Seonghwa, so hearing Dal be comfortable enough with him to call him that was enough to make his easily bruised heart bleed profusely.

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“Appa smelly but is sleeping.”

San let out a chirp of a laugh and turned back to the stove, finishing up cooking before he let the food cool slightly as he walked to the living room. He walked up to Seonghwa and shook the ravenette awake. Smiling warmly at his boyfriend, San watched Seonghwa stretch and flutter his eyes open. San chuckled as Seonghwa glanced around in confusion before focusing on him, and the ravenette smiled. Sitting up to press a kiss against San’s lips, Seonghwa hummed in sleepiness before San patted Seonghwa’s waist.

“Dal said you’re smelly, so you should take a shower before we eat. I need to set the table anyway.”

Seonghwa huffed with a pout, but he got up as San moved away and disappeared into their shared bedroom. When he returned to the kitchen, Dal was trying to climb onto the counter as if to grab the plates. San rushed over and balanced Dal before the boy fell backwards. He gently pulled Dal off the counter and back onto the ground before reaching up and grabbing the plates to hand to Dal.

“Thank you for trying to help set the table, Dal, but please don’t climb on the counters. You could get hurt, and then Hwa and I will be worried and feel bad because we didn’t protect you enough. Ok?”

Dal looked a mix of sad yet guilty as he nodded, and he moved to set the plates out where they normally ate while San got out the utensils. He grunted in surprise when he felt Dal hug his waist, and he wrapped his arms around the boy even though he had utensils in his hand. San put the utensils back on the counter before detaching Dal from him just to kneel down and let the boy hug his neck, tucking his face against San’s neck while San placed his chin on Dal’s shoulder.

After a few moments of hugging, San patted Dal’s back and pulled away.

“Let’s finish setting the table for Hwa, yeah?”

When San stood up, he grabbed the utensils and gave them to Dal as he turned to grab their cups. He went to fix their drinks when he saw Seonghwa standing in the doorway with a soft yet teary look on his face, and San instantly knew that the elder had seen his and Dal’s moment. Or at least a part of it.

San managed a small smile to the ravenette before he returned to fixing their drinks. By the time he was done fixing their drinks, Dal was done with the utensils and was sitting in his spot, watching San move around. The blonde then started to move the food to the table where each of them could reach it, gently patting Dal on the head every couple passes. All while Seonghwa watched silently from the door.

When San nodded as he sat down, Seonghwa walked in fully and sat in his place. The couple smiled at each other before they started fixing their plates. Even Dal fixed his own plate. But as San glanced around at the scene, he knew that things would be alright. Just as his dad had imagined, San was doing well at being a sturdy place to go to to lean on and build a life under his shadow. It was just him, the Mountain, overlooking his Star and his new Moon.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/5tarspromise) and [Curious Cat](https://curiouscat.me/5tarspromise)!


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